1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically bundling elongate articles such as slide fasteners, and more particularly to an apparatus for bundling a plurality of elongate articles with a bundling band fed to and cut off in a bundling station.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
Finished slide fasteners discharged one by one from a slide fastener finishing machine are generally bundled manually by bands, and a number of bundles are packaged in a box. The conventional bundling bands are marked with printed items of information such as slide fastener types, dimensions, colors, and the number of slide fasteners bundled together. Therefore, there have been required many kinds of bundling bands, and it has been quite a complex task to keep an inventory of all necessary types of bundling bands at all times. The bundling bands have to be changed each time slide fasteners of different kinds, dimensions, and numbers are to be manufactured. The prior bundling practice has also been disadvantageous in that if the bundling bands were not changed or different bands were used, the information printed on the bands would fail to properly indicate the slide fasteners tied up thereby. Furthermore, the manual bundling operation is time-consuming and makes the bundles unsightly as the bands tend to be irregularly positioned.